Collaborate Disseminate
A long-running espionage campaign shows signs of iteration and development amid Gaza fighting, researchers say.
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Days after Israel and Gaza-based militant group Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in May, Arabic-speaking hackers resumed an effort to break into government networks in the Middle East, according to research published Thursday. The hacking group, known as MoleRATs, sent target organizations a malware-laced PDF claiming to be a report on Hamas members meeting with the Syrian government, security firm Proofpoint said. The malicious code is able to access files and take screenshots on a victim’s computer in furtherance of a spying campaign. It’s an example of how, alongside the violence that has long marked the Israel-Palestine conflict, there are often much subtler efforts by digital spies to access networks. It’s unclear what caused the hacking group to take a two-month break starting in March, or why it resumed activity in early June. Proofpoint analysts speculated that either the Muslim holy month of Ramadan or the latest Israel-Hamas conflict, which […]
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Amid rampant misinformation spreading on social media about Israel’s attacks against targets in the Gaza Strip, Facebook has stood up a 24-hour operations center to address the lies spreading on its platform, Facebook said Wednesday. Israel’s escalating assault on targets in the Gaza Strip continued Wednesday and at least nine people died there Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. Israeli airstrikes have killed dozens of civilians in recent days, and in one of its deadliest bombardments yet, Israel killed 42 people on Sunday, according to Palestinian medics, CBS News reported. Hamas has launched missiles over Israel as well, killing numerous civilians. In all, 227 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Twelve people have been killed in Israel, according to The Associated Press. But in recent days misinformation and disinformation has tainted the discourse around the violence. Lies about the conflict that have spread online include misinformation […]
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An Arabic-speaking hacking group that’s used phishing emails laden with sensational headlines focused on the Middle East to spy on government officials is leveraging recent diplomatic activity to conduct espionage. Operatives with the group, known as MoleRATs, used mainstream technology services like Facebook and Dropbox to obscure their malicious activity and exfiltrate data, according Cybereason, the security company that published details on the activity on Wednesday. It’s the latest example of a savvy hacking group turning to popular technology platforms to dupe their targets, or cover their tracks. This MoleRATs espionage campaign, which occurred in October and November, was aimed at political and government officials in Egypt, the Palestinian territories, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, according to Cybereason. Its phishing emails referenced a reported secret meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Hackers used Facebook accounts […]
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Hackers associated with Hamas, the Islamist militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, are combining new malware with a timeless trick in an espionage campaign against Palestinian officials, private-sector researchers said Thursday. Like many attackers before them, they’re sending emails on enticing topics, ranging from the U.S. killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani to the Trump administration’s Middle East peace proposal. The messages come with malicious PDF files that contain a new remote access trojan (RAT), code that gives them a foothold onto a computer, according to Boston-based security company Cybereason. The hackers have in recent weeks attempted to breach carefully selected targets associated with the Palestinian government in the West Bank, the researchers said. Many of the malware samples analyzed by Cybereason appear to have targeted Fatah, the ruling party in the West Bank and a longtime rival of Hamas. It is unclear how the group was using the information it […]
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The Israel Defense Force (IDF) claims to have neutralized an “attempted” cyber attack by launching airstrikes on a building in Gaza Strip from where it says the attack was originated.
As shown in a video tweeted by IDF, the building in the Gaza Strip,… Continue reading Israel Neutralizes Cyber Attack by Blowing Up A Building With Hackers